Prof. Irene Finel-Honigman, US-EU Public and Private Sector Responses to the Financial Crisis

Political Responses - Perceptions and misperceptions on the role of government intervention and control in the financial sector - Interpretation of the US 2008 "tarp" and partial nationalizations in the US and the EU - "Will the US become Greece": Economic fearmongering in a period of political volatility - Impact of 18 month long US presidential campaigns: less focused on EU issues, partisan emphasis on weakness in Europe instead of actual debate on the causes and framework of the EU debt crisis Economic Responses - Market bipolar volatility since late spring with 200-400 point swings blamed on the EU and US debt crisis: impact of downgrades and interim solutions - Economic press, media reflexive reactions in 24/7 news cycle: "Is Europe collapsing?" - Economic theory and analysis: Since 1992 political will has pushed Europe forward, while the market has had the ability to speculate against it. US economists have a long history of euro skepticism since the 1990s (Robert Mundell pro EU stance versus Martin Feldstein disaster scenario). In 2011 Larry Summers, Ben Bernanke cautious optimism versus Nouriel Roubini, George Soros breakup scenarios. - New approaches and broader scope for the Fed - Redefining the mandate and scope of the ECB, IMF (role of Christine Lagarde) - Cooperation between Fed and ECB Economic culture - Lack of US historical knowledge and historical memory of the origins and framework of the EU - Limited debate and coverage of the profound socioeconomic shifts called for in the euro crisis: the role of the state and civil society, the public sector in Greece, Italy and Portugal - Symbolic and practical impact of strikes, public manifestations and riots: why do Europeans demonstrate, why are Americans passive? - Quest and interpretations of short term, long term solutions Irene Finel-Honigman teaches international finance and economic policy at SIPA. She previously served as a research scholar at SIPA and adjunct professor in the MBA program at Johns Hopkins University. From 2001 - 2008, she taught European Union political and financial history and policy in the Institute for the Study of Europe at SIPA. Finel-Honigman served as senior advisor on finance policy at the United States Department of Commerce during the Clinton administration. Her responsibilities included the introduction of an initiative on the European Monetary Union and its implications for U.S. competitiveness. Born in France, Finel-Honigman earned a baccalaureat from the Lycee Francais de New York, B.A. from Barnard College, and Ph.D. from Yale University. Alliance Program Events

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